The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Walkthrough :

This walkthrough for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion [PC] has been posted at 23 Aug 2010 by xdragon12 and is called "Character Build FAQ". If walkthrough is usable don't forgot thumbs up xdragon12 and share this with your freinds. And most important we have 27 other walkthroughs for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, read them all!

Walkthrough - Character Build FAQ

Page 1

The Elder Scrolls IV
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______ ______ _ _________ _________ _______ _
( ___ )( ___ \ ( \ \__ __/|\ /|\__ __/( ___ )( ( /|
| ( ) || ( ) )| ( ) ( | ) ( | ) ( | ( ) || \ ( |
| | | || (__/ / | | | | | | | | | | | | | || \ | |
| | | || __ ( | | | | ( ( ) ) | | | | | || (\ \) |
| | | || ( \ \ | | | | \ \_/ / | | | | | || | \ |
| (___) || )___) )| (____/\___) (___ \ / ___) (___| (___) || ) \ |
(_______)|/ \___/ (_______/\_______/ \_/ \_______/(_______)|/ )_)
####################################
#####################################
##################################
############## ###########
########### ##########
########## #########
########### #########
######### #########
######### #########
######### # ########
######## ###### ########
######## ######## ########
######## ####### #######
####### ##### #######
###### ## #######
####### #######
###### #######
###### #######
##### ######
##### ######
##### ######
#### ######
#### #####
### #####
## ####
###
##
CHARACTER BUILD GUIDE (for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3)
V2.00 2007-02-26
Copyright 2006, 2007 Barry Scott "PapaGamer" Will
A premium version of this guide is available. It includes maps, screenshots,
hyperlinked cross-references and more. See
http://www.papagamer.com/content/view/28/39/
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONTACT INFORMATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
To contact me about the guide, send email to:
barry@papagamer.com
Please include "Oblivion Character FAQ" in your subject line so I don't auto-
discard the message. Also, please read the FAQ carefully prior to asking for
help on any part of the game. If you send me additional suggestions or hints
for the game and I find them useful, you will be acknowledged in the Credits.
If you found this guide useful and would like to contribute a small token for
my efforts, you may send money through PayPal by using the Donate link found
on my Web site:
http://www.papagamer.com/
Thank you, and enjoy the guide!
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
Skills.......................................CG00
Attributes...................................CG01
Races........................................CG02
Birthsigns...................................CG03
The Leveling System..........................CG04
Classes......................................CG05
Class Templates..............................CG06
The Math: How Skills Increase................CG07
Skill Training...............................CG08
Version History & Credits VH00
Legal........................................LG00
To quickly jump to a section, copy the section code, press CTRL-F and paste
the section code in the search box.
[CG00]
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SKILLS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
Everything in the game is based on skills. What race (and therefore what
starting attributes) you choose, what class you choose (pre-generated or
custom), how you fight, how you interact with people, what quests you pick
up...it should all be founded on the skills you want. Oblivion features 21
different skills. Each skill is governed by an attribute score, has different
Mastery Levels--Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and Master--and affects
how well you are able to do certain things. Each skill is also related to a
class specialization (combat, mage or stealth).
The Mastery Levels are:
Skill Mastery
Rank Level
------- ----------
0 - 24 Novice
25 - 49 Apprentice
50 - 74 Journeyman
75 - 99 Expert
100 Master
Your base rank in all skills is five (5), which is Novice level. At that rank,
you will receive limited benefit when using the skill and may even receive
penalties. For example, Novice Marksmen lose Fatigue whenever they draw a bow.
The highest natural rank for any skill is 100. You can boost a skill beyond
100 by using Fortify spells; however, very few skills provide any additional
benefit when boosted past 100.
When you select a class, seven skills are identified as "major skills". All
the rest of the skills are "minor skills". Major skills immediately receive a
+20 bonus and begin at rank 25, or Apprentice level. Any major skills that
come from your class' specialization receive an additional +5, for a starting
rank of 30*. You'll also receive a bonus of +5 or +10 in several skills based
on your racial selection. Thus, you can start the game with some skills as
high as rank 40 (major skill from class specialization +10 racial bonus).
*Correction provided by yaox0024 and McArminius. Various printed material
about the game (including the game manual and in-game information) lists a +10
bonus from specialized skills, but the game actually only provides a +5 bonus.
Example: a Breton Battlemage would begin the game with the following major
skills and scores:
-> Alchemy.......35
-> Alteration....35
-> Blade.........25
-> Blunt.........25
-> Conjuration...40
-> Destruction...30
-> Mysticism.....40
Additionally, the character would have the following minor skill scores:
-> Illusion......10
-> Restoration...15
All other skills would be rank 5. This doesn't mean this character could not
use the other skills, but they will be at Novice level and it will take a long
time to increase them to Apprentice level. On the other hand, the character
should quickly reach Journeyman level (and the associated perks) in
Conjuration and Mysticism.
All skills increase in rank as you use them. The lower your rank in a skill,
the faster it will increase as you use it. Major skills increase slightly
faster than minor skills of the same rank. You must increase your major skills
in order to increase your class level. (See the section on Leveling.)
-> Armorer
Attribute: Endurance
Novice: Repair hammers break quickly
Apprentice: Repair hammers last twice as long as Novice
Journeyman: Can repair magic items
Expert: Can repair items to 125%, weapons do more damage, armor
provides more protection.
Master: Never break a repair hammer
As you use weapons and armor, they deteriorate. You can buy (or find) repair
hammers and use them to repair your items based on your Armorer skill. Repair
hammers also wear out with use. At Novice level, hammers last a very short
time and you cannot repair magic items. At Apprentice level, hammers begin
lasting twice as long.
Armorer is a "tweener" skill. Leveling this skill can be tedious and requires
a lot of money (for repair hammers) and lots of time spent damaging and then
repairing armor and weapons. You also do not want to wait a long time before
hitting Journeyman Mastery so you can repair enchanted items. Armorer is a
good choice for a major skill, especially for melee fighters.
-> Athletics
Attribute: Speed
Novice: Slow Fatigue regeneration while running
Apprentice: While running regenerate Fatigue 25% faster than Novice
Journeyman: While running regenerate Fatigue 50% faster than Novice
Expert: While running regenerate Fatigue 75% faster than Novice
Master: No reduction in rate of Fatigue regeneration while running
Your ability to run and swim is controlled by your Athletics skill. You
normally regenerate Fatigue whenever you are not running or swimming;
performing one of those activities reduces the regeneration rate of your
Fatigue. As your ranks in Athletics increase, your ability to regenerate
Fatigue while exerting yourself increases.
Even though most players prefer to play with Always Run on, Athletics levels
up very slowly. Also, you will not typically run while in a dungeon (unless
you're Sneak-running, which does not provide experience for Athletics); and,
above-ground, there is Fast Travel and horses to keep you from wearing out
your feet. All-in-all, Athletics is very controllable and makes a good major
skill.
-> Blade
Attribute: Strength
Novice: No Power Attacks
Apprentice: Standing Power Attack
Journeyman: Left/Right Power Attacks with chance to disarm
Expert: Backwards Power Attack with a chance to knockdown
Master: Forward Power Attack with a chance to paralyze
This skill determines how much damage you can inflict with a bladed weapon--
swords, daggers, etc. Higher Mastery Levels allow you to disarm or knock down
your opponent. The Master perk is almost equivalent to an instant win.
There are three melee combat skills (Blade, Blunt and Hand To Hand); you
really only need one as a major skill. Fighters will want to have one of the
three as a major skill for quick access to Power Attacks. By mixing up some
spellcasting and ranged attacks, you can keep from ranking up your major skill
too quickly. In general, Blade is the best of the three as there are more and
better blades to be found than blunts, and there are not magic enhancements
for your fists.
Hint: When you reach Cloud City Temple, you can watch two Blades sparring.
Watch for a few minutes and your Blade skill will increase by two.
-> Block
Attribute: Endurance
Novice: Fatigued by blocking, hand-to-hand blocking has no effect
Apprentice: Not fatigued by blocking
Journeyman: Shield or weapon takes no damage when used to block,
opponents may recoil when blocking with hand-to-hand
Expert: Blocking with a shield gives a chance to counterattack
Master: Blocking with a shield gives a chance to disarm when a
successful blocking counterattack is made
Blocking is a key ingredient in Oblivion combat. The amount of damage you can
deflect is governed by your Block skill. At Novice level, blocking costs
Fatigue and lets a lot of damage through anyway. Melee fighters will want
Block as a major skill since their lives will depend upon it. Other classes
can leave this as a minor skill and use Blocking to get modifiers to
Endurance.
Hint: When you reach Cloud City Temple, you can watch two Blades sparring.
Watch for a few minutes and your Block skill will increase by two.
-> Blunt
Attribute: Strength
Novice: No Power Attacks
Apprentice: Standing Power Attack
Journeyman: Left/Right Power Attacks with chance to disarm
Expert: Backwards Power Attack with a chance to knockdown
Master: Forward Power Attack with a chance to paralyze
Same as Blade, but you fight with weapons classified as blunt (clubs, maces,
axes, hammers, etc.) Note the classifications of blade and blunt differentiate
on the way the weapons are wielded. Axes are used just like maces and clubs,
not like swords, even though axes have a bladed head.
-> Hand To Hand
Attribute: Strength
Novice: No Power Attacks
Apprentice: Standing Power Attack
Journeyman: Left/Right Power Attacks with chance to disarm
Expert: Backwards Power Attack with a chance to knockdown
Master: Forward Power Attack with a chance to paralyze
Same as Blade, but you fight with your fists.
Hint: Outside the Arena in the Imperial City, you can find two NPCs sparring
with each other. Watch them for a couple of minutes and you will receive 5
bonus ranks to your HTH skill.
-> Heavy Armor
Attribute: Endurance
Novice: Armor degrades 50% faster than normal
Apprentice: Armor degrades at a normal rate
Journeyman: Armor degrades 50% slower than normal
Expert: Equipped heavy armor items only count 50% of their normal
encumbrance value.
Master: Equipped heavy armor items cause no encumbrance.
Heavy armor (iron, steel, dwarven, orcish, ebony and daedric) is the
protection of choice for high-Strength melee combatants. (Low Strength
characters will find heavy armor to be too...well, heavy.) The only way to
increase this skill is to wear heavy armor pieces--as many as you can buy or
scrounge and take damage while wearing them.
Heavy Armor ranks up slowly, so having it as a major skill should not be a
liability. Unless you have a very high STR character, you'll want to reach the
Expert perk sooner rather than later, to reduce the encumbrance of all that
metal.
-> Alchemy
Attribute: Intelligence
Novice: Can identify the first of four effects of an ingredient
Apprentice: Can identify the first two of four effects of an ingredient
Journeyman: Can identify the first three of four effects of an ingredient
Expert: Can identify all four effects of an ingredient
Master: Can make potions with just one ingredient
There are many alchemical substances in Tamriel: food, plants, bits and pieces
of the creatures you kill...Each of these substances has up to four effects--
some beneficial and some harmful. By mixing two or more ingredients that have
the same effect, you can create potions or poisons. Your Alchemy skill
determines how many of the four effects of a substance you can identify. At
Novice level you can only identify one effect. Apprentices can identify two
effects, and so on. At Master level, you can create a potion with just one
ingredient.
You need an alchemical apparatus to mix ingredients. The mortar and pestle is
the basic apparatus, and you should find one during the starter dungeon. The
better the apparatus, the greater the magnitude of the effect produced by your
potion or poison:
* Mortar and Pestle: basic apparatus allowing potions to be created
* Retort: increases magnitude and duration of beneficial effects of potions
(but not poisons)
* Alembic: decreases the magnitude and duration of negative effects of potions
(but not poisons)
* Calcinator: increases the magnitude and durations of all effects of potions
and poisons.
There are different quality "grades" for each type of apparatus. The higher
quality apparatuses have the same effect on your potions and poisons, but to a
higher degree.
To mix a potion or poison, select any apparatus in Inventory to bring up the
Alchemy menu. Select at least two ingredients with the same effect and click
Create. The higher your Alchemy skill, the greater the magnitude of your new
potion or poison.
Alchemy is a very controllable skill; thus, it's useful both as a major skill
for leveling or as a minor skill to rank up for the Intelligence modifiers.
Alchemy can also be tedious to train--you have to buy, harvest or scrounge
every ingredient you can. Once you have lots of ingredients, mixing them into
potions and poisons is quick, and easy.
SPELL SKILLS
--------------
The following spell school skills do not have skill perks, per se. Spells are
rated at a particular Mastery Level and you must have achieved that Level in
the skill in order to cast the spell. For combat effectiveness, you'll want to
start with some spell schools as major skills, thus getting Apprentice-level
spells. If you're planning to be a magic-wielding class and all you have are
Novice spells...well, good luck.
On the other hand, you'll want to vary spell-casting between major and minor
skills, so you don't level up your class too quickly. For example, you could
throw some high-level Destruction spells at the start of combat, then switch
to lower-level Alteration or Restoration spells close-up. Or, you could use a
high-level Conjuration to summon some help, and then switch to low-level
Destruction spells.
-> Alteration
Attribute: Willpower
Alteration spells are primarily used in a defensive or adaptive way, with a
focus on buffs. Alteration spells can shield you from damage, enable you to
breathe underwater, reduce your encumbrance, etc. This school may be of most
use to a combat-oriented character with some magical ability (i.e. a
"Spellsword" or "Battlemage"). Thieves may also find this school useful for
the "Open Lock" spells. Alteration levels up very quickly and has a lot of
self-targeted spells that can be cast over-and-over. It's a good choice for a
minor skill.
-> Conjuration
Attribute: Intelligence
This school of magic is primarily concerned with three things: summoning
creatures to fight for the caster, summoning "bound" armor and weapons--i.e.
creating armor and weapons out of Magicka--and repulsing (turning) undead.
Pure casters will definitely want this school, and battlemages with low
Strength may like the bound armor and weapons, since they have no weight.
Conjuration is the fastest-leveling skill in the game and you can cast Summon
spells over-and-over to rank it up. Never take Conjuration as a major skill,
you'll level far too fast.
-> Destruction
Attribute: Willpower
Your basic offensive spells. Pure mages need this school for raw firepower.
(Literally.) However, Destruction spells go beyond simple damage-dealing; they
can weaken attributes and skills, corrode armor and weapons and other nasty
things. There are also a number of good long-range Destruction spells, making
this an excellent choice for battlemages who don't want to lug around bow and
arrows. Destruction levels fairly slowly--the second slowest of all the spell
schools; and, you have to hit a valid target to level it up. You can always
create a small, self-targeted Destruction spell to help level this one up.
However, since Destruction is a major tool, it's probably best not to use this
as a major, you'll simply be forced into using it more often than you would
like.
-> Illusion
Attribute: Personality
Illusions run the gamut from charm spells to invisibility to controlling
creatures to lighting up the dark spaces in the world. (And there are a lot of
dark spaces in Oblivion.) There are a wide variety of spells in this school,
many of them of most value to a Stealth character rather than a pure mage or
battlemage. Illusion ranks up quickly and has good spells that can be cast
over-and-over to earn experience.
-> Mysticism
Attribute: Intelligence
Mysticism has three major uses: protect against magic, detect enemies and soul
trap enemies for enchanting. This is the school where you find your dispelling
magic as well as detection magic. A good school for pure casters and for
"bounty hunter" builds--warriors who specialize in tracking down targets. All
characters can benefit from Soul Trap spells, since all types of classes use
enchanted weapons. Mysticism is another easy-to-level skill. Detect Life is
not only useful, it can help you rank up this skill in short order. Definitely
not a major skill candidate.
-> Restoration
Attribute: Willpower
Restoration spells include basic healing magic, as well as many more types
that can be used for offense as well as defense. Some Restoration spells allow
you to increase your own attributes and skills by absorbing them from your
foes. You'll also find a number of buffing spells in addition to restorative
magic. Restoration is a great all-around school that fits well into any
character build that needs a little magic boost. Restoration makes a good
choice for a major skill because: a) it ranks up very slowly; and, b) you have
to have a damaged target (normally yourself), which is not that easy to
achieve. Starting with Restoration as a minor skill will only lead to it being
ignored since it will take far to long to rank up to the more useful
Apprentice and Journeyman level spells.
-> Acrobatics
Attribute: Speed
Novice: Cannot attack when jumping or falling
Apprentice: Can make normal (non-power) attacks when jumping or falling
Journeyman: Gains the Dodge ability--hold Block and jump in a direction
to evade attacks
Expert: Fatigue loss for jumping is cut in half
Master: Water Jump--time your jumps just right and you can jump across
water surfaces
Acrobatics is one of those little-used skills, the main purpose of which is to
use in leveling up. Acrobatics is pretty controllable--it levels slowly and
you won't rank up much if you just do the normal amount of jumping that's
required to get around. This makes Acrobatics, along with Mercantile and
Restoration, as must-have major skills, since you just won't get anything out
of them if you have to rank them up from Novice.
-> Light Armor
Attribute: Speed
Novice: Armor degrades at 150% the normal rate
Apprentice: Armor degrades at the normal rate
Journeyman: Armor degrades at 50% the normal rate
Expert: Equipped Light Armor does not encumber the wearer
Master: Gains a 50% bonus to armor rating if wearing only Light Armor
Light armor (fur, leather, chainmail, mithril, Elven and glass) is for those
characters that rely more on stealth and speed to stay alive. While these
armors provide some protection, they are not meant to keep you alive if you
consistently go toe-to-toe with the bad guys. Light armor is sort of the back-
up plan for ranged characters who get caught in melee or Stealth characters
who are spotted before they can deliver a critical blow.
-> Marksman
Attribute: Agility
Novice: Drawing a bow causes a loss of Fatigue
Apprentice: There is no loss of Fatigue when drawing a bow
Journeyman: Hold Block while your bow is drawn to zoom in on the target
Expert: Gives a chance of knocking down the target with arrows
Master: Gives a chance of paralyzing the target with arrows
The only ranged weapon in Oblivion is the bow, and characters who depend upon
it must have Marksman. Generally, one should choose a single combat skill and
stick with it; however, Marksman may be mixed with a melee skill that you can
fall back on should you get caught by a rush. If you decide to go the archer
route, make sure you always have plenty of arrows before leaving town and also
be careful to recover arrows you have used. Since archers will want the
Journeyman perk as quickly as possible, you should start with Marksman as a
major skill if you plan on being a ranged fighter. Mix it up with some spells
to keep from ranking it up too quickly, and getting your class levels too
quickly.
-> Mercantile
Attribute: Personality
Novice: The condition of an item reduces its selling price
Apprentice: The condition of an item does not affect its selling price
Journeyman: Buy and sell any item with any merchant*
Expert: You can invest in a shop, giving that shop a bonus to the
amount of gold on hand.
Master: All shops have an increase of 500 gold for bartering
*This does not mean you can sell stolen items to non-fence merchants.
It only means, say, an armor merchant will buy rings or a ring merchant will
buy weapons. Etc.
Mercantile affects your ability to haggle with a merchant. While the
merchant's barter screen (the shop inventory) is open, click the Haggle
button. You'll get a slider from Easy (far left) to Hard (far right).
Underneath you'll see the percentage of base cost for items you buy from the
merchant (e.g. 185%) and the percentage of base cost for items you sell to the
merchant (e.g. 35%). Moving the slider from left to right decreases the buy
cost and increases the sell cost. Once you've chosen a buy/sell combination
you like, close the Haggle window and try to buy or sell an item. If the
merchant refuses, open the Haggle window and move the slider to the left. The
higher your Mercantile skill, the more likely the merchant is to accept deals
on the right side of the slider.
At high levels, Mercantile increases the amount of barter gold each merchant
has available. The barter gold a merchant has is, essentially, the limit of
what you can sell that merchant per transaction. E.g. if the merchant has 800
gold and you have three pairs of boots the merchant would normally pay you 400
gold for, you cannot sell all three to the merchant in one transaction (1200
gold total). You could sell them one at a time, or two and then one.
Normally, the largest individual transaction with a merchant is 1,200 gold. If
you advance to almost the end of the Thieves Guild, you get a fence with 1,500
gold. The Thieves Den official mod includes a 1,500 gold fence. The Wizard's
Tower official mod includes a 2,000 gold normal merchant. Any merchant's
barter gold can be increased by 1,000 gold at Master Mercantile (by investing
500 gold in the store).
-> Security
Attribute: Agility
Novice: Up to four set tumblers will fall if you fail to set a tumbler
Apprentice: Up to three set tumblers will fall if you fail to set a
tumbler
Journeyman: Up to two set tumblers will fall if you fail to set a tumbler
Expert: Onlye one set tumbler will fall if you fail to set a tumbler
Master: No set tumblers fall if you fail to set a tumbler
Security controls the lockpicking mini-game in three ways:
* Higher Security provides a more likely chance of success if you use the Auto
Attempt button to try to pick the lock.
* Higher Security keeps set tumblers in place when you break a pick by failing
to properly set a tumbler.
* Higher Security causes tumblers to drop back down more slowly.
The lockpicking mini-game pops up whenever you try to open a locked object.
You'll see a stylized rendition of the internal workings of a lock. Through
the middle runs a hollow bolt into which your pick is inserted. This bolt is
held in place by from one (very easy locks) to five (very hard locks)
tumblers.
You may attempt to automatically open the lock using the Auto Attempt but-ton,
or you may pick the lock manually. Move the pick under a tumbler and push up
to push the tumbler out of the bolt. The tumblers are spring-loaded and will
pop back down either immediately or after a one- or two-second delay. While
the tumbler is still seated in the up position, LEFT-CLICK or press the right
trigger to set the tumbler. If you click at the wrong time, the tumbler falls
back into place and breaks your pick. Depending on your Security skill, other
tumblers you have already set will also fall and you'll have to set them all
over again.
You can figure out when to set a tumbler into place in one of two ways:
1) Keep pushing it up and letting it fall and watch the pattern. For the most
part, a quick reset of the tumbler is immediately followed by a long reset. So
all you have to do is watch for a quick reset and then set the tumbler on the
next try.
2) Listen to the sound of the tumbler moving up. There is an extra, very quiet
click when the tumbler is going to stay seated for a second or two. That's
when you can set the tumbler. Once you learn how to recognize that little
extra click, you can pick locks very easily.
Whether you take Security as a minor or major skill depends on how much you
intend to use it. While you'll occasionally need Security for quests, it only
becomes important in Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quests. If you don't
plan on performing those quests, make Security a major skill. You won't use it
often enough to class level unexpectedly. If you do plan on a bit of
skullduggery, leave Security as a minor skill. You can successfully complete
the lockpicking mini-game regardless of your Security rank, and you don't want
to gain unnecessary class levels from all the locks you pick.
-> Sneak
Attribute: Agility
Novice: Undetected attacks have a bonus of 4x damage for one-handed or
hand-to-hand attacks, 2x damage for bow attacks
Apprentice: Undetected attacks have a bonus of 6x damage for one-handed or
hand-to-hand attacks, 3x damage for bow attacks
Journeyman: Weight of your boots does not affect chance of detection
Expert: Moving, regardless of speed, while Sneaking does not affect
chance of detection
Master: Undetected attacks ignore armor rating of opponents
Sneaking is the bread and butter of the thief-type character, whether you are
a basic sneak-thief or a stealth-oriented fighter. Attacks made while
undetected do more damage:
* Novice: 4x from one-handed weapons and hand-to-hand,
2x from bows
* Apprentice and above: 6x from one-handed weapons and hand-to-hand,
3x from bows
*Note* you do not receive any damage bonus when Sneak attacking with a two-
handed melee weapon.
Sneak also allows you to pick pockets, avoid detection while you burglar a
house, etc. When in Sneak mode, an eye replaces your standard crosshair. If
the eye is grayed out, you are undetected. If the eye starts to glow, another
creature hears or sees something suspicious. Remaining undetected while
Sneaking is not just a matter of your skill rank, it also takes gameplay
skill. You have to move slowly, stay in shadows, avoid being in another
creature's sight (i.e. only move when their back is turned), etc. The only
clothing item that makes a difference when sneaking is your boots, and at
Journeyman level you can Sneak in steel boots if you're so inclined.
To pick someone's pocket, approach in Sneak mode. While remaining undetected,
Activate the NPC. You'll get a pick-pocket inventory rather than a
conversation. The higher in value or weight of the items you try to remove,
the more likely your attempt will be noticed. Sneak is best left as a minor
skill. You can rank it up quickly in a number of ways. Perhaps the best way is
to Sneak behind an innkeeper, and then run into a wall. You can level up Sneak
pretty quickly that way. This is a good way to get +5 modifiers to your
Agility.
-> Speechcraft
Attribute: Personality
Novice: Can bribe most NPCs for Disposition bonuses
Apprentice: Can get one free rotation of the Persuasion mini-game wheel
during each play of the mini-game
Journeyman: Disposition decreases more slowly during the Persuasion game
Expert: Lower reduction in Disposition from the hated response
Master: Bribes are 50% lower.
Each NPC has a Disposition score that indicates how likely they are to give
you important information or Haggle with you (if a merchant). You can increase
an NPC's Disposition using a Persuasion mini-game. In some cases, getting or
continuing a quest requires you to get a high Disposition score with the
target.
*NOTE* You can also increase Disposition by using Charm spells, the Imperial
ability, "Voice of the Emperor", or the vampire ability, "Vampire's
Seduction".
To play the Persuasion mini-game, click the Persuade button (face icon on the
left of the conversation menu) during conversation. A segmented wheel opens
next to the NPC. There are four segments: Admire, Boast, Joke and Coerce.
During each round of play, you must perform each action once.
To perform an action, select it and LEFT-CLICK or Right Trigger. Of the four
actions, the NPC will love one, like one, dislike one and hate one. You can
tell the NPC's reaction by examining his or her face when you select the
action. Inside each action's segment of the wheel is a wedge. After each
selection, the wedges "rotate", changing their position.
There are four wedges: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. They always rotate clockwise
and their order will differ from round to round. The actions the NPC loves,
likes, dislikes and hates will always be the same, so you only need to test
them at the beginning of the mini-game.
Basic gameplay involves choosing liked or loved responses when they are filled
with a medium or large wedge and choosing disliked and hated actions when they
have only a small wedge in them. All the while you're deciding which action to
pick, the NPC's Disposition is falling.
First, get a blank sheet of paper and sketch four large X's on it:
\ / \ / \ / \ /
\ / \ / \ / \ /
\/ \/ \/ \/
/\ /\ /\ /\
/ \ / \ / \ / \
/ \ / \ / \ / \
Start the Persuasion mini-game and quickly examine the NPC's reactions to each
action. Pause the game and note these reactions in the appropriate section of
your diagrams. In this example, the NPC (a city guard) loves Admire, likes
Boast, dislikes Joke and hates Coerce:
LV LV LV LV
\ / \ / \ / \ /
\ / \ / \ / \ /
LK \/ D LK \/ D LK \/ D LK \/ D
/\ /\ /\ /\
/ \ / \ / \ / \
/ \ / \ / \ / \
H H H H
Next, quickly examine the current position of the wedges, pause the game and
note these in your first X:
LV
\ 25 /
\ /
LK \/ D
75 /\ 50
/ \
/100 \
H
You can now extrapolate where each wedge will be for each selection:
LV LV LV LV
\ 25 / \ 75 / \100 / \ 50 /
\ / \ / \ / \ /
LK \/ D LK \/ D LK \/ D LK \/ D
75 /\ 50 100 /\ 25 50 /\ 75 25 /\100
/ \ / \ / \ / \
/100 \ / 50 \ / 25 \ / 75 \
H H H H
The strategy is simple: First determine in which turn you get the 25% wedge in
Hate and take that--in this example, it is the third turn. Then you want the
100% wedge in Love, or, if that's unavailable (because it occurs in the same
turn as 25% in Hate), then take 75% in Love (second turn in this example).
Then Dislike when it is lower--of the remaining turns (first and fourth),
Dislike is lower in the first. So, the correct strategy for this round is:
Dislike (50%), Love (75%), Hate (25%), Like (25%). You then start the next
round and your opening looks like this:
LV
\100 /
\ /
LK \/ D
25 /\ 75
/ \
/ 50 \
H
Planning ahead yields: Love (100%), Like (50%), Dislike (25%), Hate (25%).
You'll get a greater increase in Disposition this round than the previous
round. Continue until you've maximized the NPC's Disposition.
Your Speechcraft skill can help with the Persuasion mini-game in several ways:
* At Apprentice rank, you can get a free rotation of the wheel during
the mini-game.
* At Journeyman rank, the NPC's Disposition falls more slowly while
you're making your decisions.
* At Expert rank, there is less reduction in Disposition from the
hated response.
Once you get good at this mini-game, you won't need to sketch out your moves;
you'll be able to do it in your head, which dramatically decreases the time it
takes to sweet-talk NPCs.
[CG01]
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ATTRIBUTES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
-> Strength
Related skills: Blade, Blunt, Hand To Hand
Determines how much you can carry, contributes to your Fatigue score and helps
you do more damage with melee weapons.
-> Intelligence
Related skills: Alchemy, Conjuration, Mysticism
Determines how much total Magicka you have and the effectiveness of your
spells.
-> Willpower
Related skills: Alteration, Destruction, Restoration
Contributes to your Fatigue score, gives resistance to Magicka and determines
how quickly you regenerate Magicka.
-> Agility
Related skills: Security, Stealth, Marksman
Determines the damage from bows and contributes to your Fatigue score.
-> Speed
Related skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Light Armor
Determines how fast you move.
-> Endurance
Related skills: Armorer, Block, Heavy Armor
Contributes to your Fatigue score and determines your Health.
-> Personality
Related skills: Illusion, Mercantile, Speechcraft
Affects NPC reactions to you.
-> Luck
Related skills: None.
Has some effect on everything.
-> Health
Measures how much damage you can take before dying. Starting Health is equal
to 2x your Endurance. Each time you level up, you receive 10% of your
Endurance added to your maximum Health.
-> Magicka
Your power pool for casting spells. Each spell costs a certain amount of
Magicka to cast. Magicka regenerates over time at a speed determined by your
Willpower. Magicka is equal to 2x your Intelligence.
-> Fatigue
A sort of catch-all stat that shows how tired you are. The less full your
Fatigue meter, the less effective you will be at any action. Fatigue is equal
to STR + END + AGL + WILL.
Your Fatigue and Magicka regenerate gradually at all times. All three derived
stats (Health, Fatigue and Magicka) can also be restored using potions,
spells, raw ingredients, resting or worshiping at an altar (as long as you
have no outstanding bounty).
Your base ability scores are determined by your race and gender, as listed in
the next section. In addition, you receive a +5 bonus to each of the two
favored attributes for your chosen class. You can then also receive ability
score bonuses from your birthsign.
For example, a female Nord begins with:
STR 50, INT 30, WILL 40, AGL 40, SPD 40, END 40, PER 30, LUCK 50
If you choose the Warrior class, you would receive +5 to STR and END. If you
further chose the Warrior birthsign, you would receive another +10 to STR and
END, giving you starting attributes of:
STR 65, INT 30, WILL 40, AGL 40, SPD 40, END 55, PER 30, LUCK 50
[CG02]
~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RACES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~
* Special abilities not listed as "constant effect" or "unlimited use" can
only be used once per 24 hour period. I.e. you have to wait 24 hours after
using the ability before you can use it again.
* These are base attributes. Your actual starting attributes will also be
affected by your class and birthsign.
* Race descriptions are from the Oblivion game manual.
-> Argonian
+------------------------------+
| | Male | Female |
|--------------+------+--------|
| Strength | 40 | 40 |
| Intelligence | 40 | 50 |
| Willpower | 30 | 40 |
| Agility | 50 | 40 |
| Speed | 50 | 40 |
| Endurance | 30 | 30 |
| Personality | 30 | 30 |
| Luck | 50 | 50 |
+------------------------------+
Bonuses: Alchemy +5, Athletics +10, Blade +5, Hand To Hand +5,
Illusion +5, Mysticism +5, Security +10
Special: Resist Disease, magnitude 75, constant effect
Immune to Poison, magnitude 100, constant effect
Can breathe underwater
This reptilian race, well-suited for the treacherous swamps of
its homeland, has developed natural immunities to diseases and
poisons. They can breathe water and are good at picking locks.
Argonians make good Stealth characters, and females can do well as
spellcasters. They are not suited for a heavy armored combat role. Resistance
to disease is helpful when fighting undead, and there are several quests that
involve underwater work. They are a fast race for those that like to travel
quickly (without using a horse or Fast Travel).
-> Breton
+------------------------------+
| | Male | Female |
|--------------+------+--------|
| Strength | 40 | 30 |
| Intelligence | 50 | 50 |
| Willpower | 50 | 50 |
| Agility | 30 | 30 |
| Speed | 30 | 40 |
| Endurance | 30 | 30 |
| Personality | 40 | 40 |
| Luck | 50 | 50 |
+------------------------------+
Bonuses: Alchemy +5, Alteration +5, Conjuration +10, Illusion +5,
Mysticism +10, Restoration +10
Special: Fortified Magicka, +50 max Magicka, constant effect
Dragon Skin, 50 magnitude shield, 60 sec duration
Resist Magicka, magnitude 50, constant effect
In addition to their quick and perceptive grasp of spellcraft,
even the humblest of Bretons can boast a resistance to magical
energies. They are particularly skilled at summoning and heal-
ing magic.
With their skill bonuses, high starting Intelligence and Willpower and special
abilities, Bretons are a natural choice for any Magic-specialized class.
Beyond that, they don't have much to offer as they will be weak in a Combat or
Stealth role. Their skill bonuses affect mostly defensive rather than
offensive magic schools.
-> Dark Elf
+------------------------------+
| | Male | Female |
|--------------+------+--------|
| Strength | 40 | 40 |
| Intelligence | 40 | 40 |
| Willpower | 30 | 30 |
| Agility | 40 | 40 |
| Speed | 50 | 50 |
| Endurance | 40 | 30 |
| Personality | 30 | 40 |
| Luck | 50 | 50 |
+------------------------------+
Bonuses: Athletics +5, Blade +10, Blunt +5, Destruction +10,
Light Armor +5, Marksman +5, Mysticism +5
Special: Ancestor Guardian, summons a Ghost, 60 sec duration
Resist Fire, magnitude 75, constant effect
Also known as "Dunmer" in their homeland of Morrowind, the Dark
Elves are noted for their skilled integration of the sword, the
bow and destruction magic. They are resistant to fire, and can
summon an ancestral ghost for aid.
Dark Elves are designed to be fleet warriors, with a little offensive magic
thrown in for good measure. They can also work well as a thief or assassin,
though they get no racial bonus to the "thief" skills (Security, Sneak). Next
to the Wood Elf, they are the most natural choice for an archer, and may
actually be the best archer race since they can combine ranged attacks with
both bow and spell with devastating melee ability.
-> High Elf
+------------------------------+
| | Male | Female |
|--------------+------+--------|
| Strength | 30 | 30 |
| Intelligence | 50 | 50 |
| Willpower | 40 | 40 |
| Agility | 40 | 40 |
| Speed | 30 | 40 |
| Endurance | 40 | 30 |
| Personality | 40 | 40 |
| Luck | 50 | 50 |
+------------------------------+
Bonuses: Alchemy +5, Alteration +10, Conjuration +5, Destruction +10,
Illusion +5, Mysticism +10
Special: Weakness to Fire, Frost & Shock, magnitude 25, constant effect
Resist Disease, magnitude 75, constant effect
Fortified Magicka, +100 max Magicka, constant effect
Also known as "Altmer" in their homeland of Summerset Isle, the
High Elves are the most strongly gifted in the arcane arts of
all the races. However, they are also somewhat vulnerable to fire,
frost and shock.
Along with Bretons, Altmer are almost stereotypical mages. Their skill bonuses
are tilted more toward offensive magic rather than defensive, but they will be
sufficiently capable in any magicka school. Weakness to elemental damage is a
warning that High Elf is not an easy race to play. You'll want to have a good
selection of shielding spells available, and then keep the bad guys off you.
-> Imperial
+------------------------------+
| | Male | Female |
|--------------+------+--------|
| Strength | 40 | 40 |
| Intelligence | 40 | 40 |
| Willpower | 30 | 40 |
| Agility | 30 | 30 |
| Speed | 40 | 30 |
| Endurance | 40 | 40 |
| Personality | 50 | 50 |
| Luck | 50 | 50 |
+------------------------------+
Bonuses: Blade +5, Blunt +5, Hand To Hand +5, Heavy Armor +10,
Mercantile +10, Speechcraft +10
Special: Star of the West, absorb Fatigue, magnitude 100
Voice of the Emperor, +30 to target Disposition, 30 sec duration
Natives of the civilized, cosmopolitan province of Cyrodiil,
they have proved to be shrewd diplomats and traders. They are
skilled with heavy armor and in the social skills and tend
to favor the warrior classes.
Imperials are a very average race. Their two big skill bonuses come in skills
that are of little real value in the game. They get bonuses to all three melee
combat skills when, in practice, most players will only use one. Their ability
scores, outside of Personality, are distinctly average. On the other hand, the
high Personality, large bonus to Speechcraft and Voice of the Emperor ability
mean there will be precious few quests that cause you any difficulty--since
many quests involve persuading people to talk.
-> Khajiit
+------------------------------+
| | Male | Female |
|--------------+------+--------|
| Strength | 40 | 30 |
| Intelligence | 40 | 40 |
| Willpower | 30 | 30 |
| Agility | 50 | 50 |
| Speed | 40 | 40 |
| Endurance | 30 | 40 |
| Personality | 40 | 40 |
| Luck | 50 | 50 |
+------------------------------+
Bonuses: Acrobatics +10, Athletics +5, Blade +5, Hand To Hand +10,
Light Armor +5, Security +5, Sneak +5
Special: Eye of Fear, Demoralize up to level 25, 30 sec duration
Eye of the Night, Night Eye, duraction 30 sec, unlimited use
Hailing from the province of Elsweyr, they are intelligent,
quick, and agile. They make excellent thieves due to their
natural agility and unmatched acrobatics skill. All Khajiit
can see in the dark.
Khajiit are natural sneak thieves and "martial artists". Low Health (for
males) and low Strength (for females) means they don't work well in any kind
of melee combat role and they have neither the attributes nor skill bonuses to
be more than average mages. Play Khajiit if you are going full-on Stealth;
otherwise, avoid this race.
-> Nord
+------------------------------+
| | Male | Female |
|--------------+------+--------|
| Strength | 50 | 50 |
| Intelligence | 30 | 30 |
| Willpower | 30 | 40 |
| Agility | 40 | 40 |
| Speed | 40 | 40 |
| Endurance | 50 | 40 |
| Personality | 30 | 30 |
| Luck | 50 | 50 |